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The literature relevant to the response-response sequential dependencies exhibited by humans in multiple-choice situations (k > 2) is briefly reviewed. It is concluded that human behavior is characterized by three types of sequential dependencies that appear in a wide variety of experimental situations. These include the tendency to (a) not repeat responses, (6) respond to adjacent loci on successive trials (respond in a series), and (c) use all k possible responses on k successive trials. It is noted that the tendency to respond in a series decreases as a function of increasing age and increasing interresponse interval, while the tendency not to repeat responses decreases as a function of increasing interresponse interval. It is also concluded that characteristic sequential dependencies are not usually the result of either attempts to optimize stimulus input or minimize reactive inhibition.

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The learning and retention of an eight-item, two-choice discrimination list under distraction conditions was investigated. The independent variables were delay-of-reinforcement interval (DRI), postreinforcement interval (PRI), intertrial interval (ITI), and locus of an interpolated distractor task. Increasing DRI was associated with faster learning and longer response latencies. Increasing PRI was associated with faster relearning. A combination of increasing PRI and increasing ITI was associated with longer response latencies and poorer retention. Under delayed reinforcement, a distractor following reinforcement interfered with learning more than did a distractor preceding reinforcement. The measurement problem involved in assessing the delayretention effect was discussed.